Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Brain DNA 'Remodeled' In Alcoholism

Date:

April 4, 2008

Source:

University of Illinois at Chicago

Summary:

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that makes it so difficult to stop using alcohol by alcoholics, researchers report in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Share This

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in the alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that make it so difficult for alcoholics to stop using alcohol.

Related Articles

The finding is reported by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in the April 2 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

DNA can undergo changes in function without any changes in inheritance or coded sequence. These "epigenetic" changes are minor chemical modifications of chromatin -- dense bundles of DNA and proteins called histones.

"This is the first time anyone has looked for epigenetic changes related to chromatin remodeling in the brain during alcohol addiction," said Dr. Subhash C. Pandey, professor and director of neuroscience alcoholism research at the UIC College of Medicine and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, the lead author of the study.

Chemical modification of histones can change the way DNA and histones are wound up together. Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) are enzymes that add acetyl groups to histones and loosen the packing, promoting gene expression. On the other hand, histone deacetylases (HDACs) remove acetyl groups from histones, causing them to wrap with DNA more tightly, decreasing gene expression.

The UIC researchers had previously shown in an animal model that levels of neuropeptide Y in the amygdala modulate anxiety and alcohol-drinking behavior. In the new study, they looked at the HDAC activity, acetylation of histones, and expression of the genes for NPY in the amygdala and the anxiety-like behaviors associated with withdrawal from chronic alcohol use.

Pandey and his colleagues found that acute exposure to alcohol decreases HDAC activity; increases the acetylation histones; increases levels of NPY -- and reduced anxiety in the animals.

Conversely, anxiety-like behaviors during withdrawal in animals with chronic alcohol exposure was associated with an increase in HDAC activity and decrease in histones acetylation and NPY levels.

Importantly, blocking the observed increase in HDAC activity using an HDAC inhibitor during alcohol withdrawal brought up histone acetylation and NPY expression levels in the amygdala and prevented the development of anxiety-like behaviors.

The researchers also found that levels of a protein known as CREB binding protein, which has HAT enzymatic activity, were increased by acute alcohol but were decreased during ethanol withdrawal.

They concluded that the enzymes that are involved in remodeling of chromatin play an important role in the anxiety that accompanies alcohol withdrawal as well as in the anti-anxiety effects of acute alcohol use.

"We need new strategies to treat alcoholism that are directed toward the prevention of withdrawal symptoms," Pandey said. "Anxiety associated with withdrawal from alcohol abuse is a key factor in the maintenance of alcohol addiction."

The research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Rajesh Ugale, Huaibo Zhang, Lei Tang and Anand Prakash of UIC and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center also contributed to the study.

More From ScienceDaily

More Mind & Brain News

Featured Research

Mar. 30, 2015 — Neuroscientists are taking inspiration from natural motor control to design new prosthetic devices that can better replace limb function. Researchers have tested a range of brain-controlled devices ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Speaking in public is the top fear for many people. Now, researchers have developed an intelligent user interface for 'smart glasses' that gives real-time feedback to the speaker on volume modulation ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — To help scientists make sense of 'brain big data,' researchers have used data mining to create www.neuroelectro.org, a publicly available website that acts like Wikipedia, indexing physiological ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — The moon does not influence the timing of human births or hospital admissions, a new study finds, confirming what astronomers have known for decades. The study illustrates how intelligent people ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — An estimated eight million adults in the U.S. suffer from binge eating disorder. Now, researchers have shown that compulsive binging on foods that are high in fat and sugar can trigger specific ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent. "On average, misuse was ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — A link between inflammation and depression, which affects approximately 148 million people in the United States, has been identified by researchers. A new study finds that resveratrol -- a natural ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — There are electrical signals in the nervous system, the brain and throughout the human body and there are tiny magnetic fields associated with these signals that could be important for medical ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015 — Scientists have developed tiny 'nanoneedles' that have successfully prompted parts of the body to generate new blood vessels, in a trial in mice. The researchers hope their nanoneedle technique could ... full story

Featured Videos

AAA: Distracted Driving a Serious Teen Problem

AP (Mar. 25, 2015) — While distracted driving is not a new problem for teens, new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says it&apos;s much more serious than previously thought. (March 25)
Video provided by AP

Many Don't Know They Have Alzheimer's, But Their Doctors Do

Newsy (Mar. 24, 2015) — According to a new study by the Alzheimer&apos;s Association, more than half of those who have the degenerative brain disease aren&apos;t told by their doctors.
Video provided by Newsy

A Quick 45-Minute Nap Can Improve Your Memory

Newsy (Mar. 23, 2015) — Researchers found those who napped for 45 minutes to an hour before being tested on information recalled it five times better than those who didn&apos;t.
Video provided by Newsy

Related Stories

Dec. 2, 2014 — A network of genes that appear to work together in determining alcohol dependence has been discovered by researchers. The findings, which could lead to future treatments and therapies for alcoholics ... full story

May 21, 2014 — A group of 11 genes can successfully predict whether an individual is at increased risk of alcoholism, a research team reports. The panel of genes is highly accurate in its differentiation of ... full story

Apr. 4, 2011 — In order to develop new medications for alcoholism, researchers need to understand how alcohol acts on the brain's reward system. A previously unknown mechanism has been shown to block the ... full story

May 5, 2010 — New research defines alcohol's impact on signaling in nerve pathways. It shows that withdrawal symptoms could be relieved by small doses of alcohol. However, easing the effects can increase ... full story

May 4, 2010 — The brain's nucleus accumbens (NAC) is a core region of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system. The mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system plays an important role in addiction. New findings ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.